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Mbah a Moute headed to World Cup in offseasonBasketball Betting Lines05/05/2010 - MILWAUKEE (AP) -As the Milwaukee Bucks' defensive stopper, Luc Richard Mbah a Mwhen he spends so many of his nights trying to contain the other team's best player. That's about to change. Despite his disappointment after Milwaukee was ousted in the playoffs by Atlanta, the prospect of attending the World Cup in South Africa next month has Mbah a Moute smiling like a little boy and bragging about the Cameroon national team's chance to advance. ``I've never been, so this will be my first time,'' he said. ``You can see how excited I am.'' While many NBA players want to get as far away from the sports world as they can in the offseason - Bucks veteran Jerry Stackhouse said he planned to ``find some salt water'' as soon as possible - Mbah a Moute can't wait to root like a fan for his home country's team on African soil. ``Oh, man. Soccer is like religion in Africa,'' he said. ``So for them to have the World Cup on their own continent is something big, huge. People just are thrilled. Everybody's excited about it. And you have a lot of good African teams now, so everybody's excited about African teams to go far into the tournament. It'll be fun to be there in that atmosphere.'' Growing up in Cameroon, Mbah a Moute spent most of his childhood playing soccer before taking up basketball. Switching sports eventually brought him to the U.S., first at a high school in Florida, then to UCLA, and finally to the Bucks as a second-round pick in the 2008 draft. He has become one of the NBA's leading defensive specialists. But Mbah a Moute never lost his love for soccer. ``I played soccer until I was 14, before I started playing basketball,'' he said. ``I'm always a fan, that's my first love. I stay true to it, and I'm always going to love it.'' His Twitter page is filled with just as many thoughts about his favorite soccer team - Spanish league powerhouse Barcelona - as it is about basketball. In a recent interview with a local sports radio station, he talked about soccer instead of basketball. Now Mbah a Moute will spend June following Cameroon's Indomitable Lions while trying to catch a few other teams, perhaps the U.S., England and Brazil, along the way. And sounding every bit like a fan, Mbah a Moute insists Cameroon is going all the way. ``I'm thinking we're going to the final, so I might be there all the way until the final,'' he said, smiling. Cameroon features several players with high-profile European experience, including Samuel Eto'o, a star striker for Inter Milan, and steady midfielder Alex Song, who plays for Arsenal. Conventional wisdom says Ivory Coast or Ghana are the most likely African teams to make a long run in the World Cup this year, but Mbah a Moute believes Cameroon is being overlooked. ``Cameroon is ranked higher than all those other teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana and whoever else,'' he said. ``They have good teams, too. That's why everybody's pretty much excited about African teams and what they're going to do in the tournament.'' His trip to Africa won't be all soccer-related; he'll also host a youth basketball camp. Then he'll spend the rest of the summer working on his own game, trying to develop his offensive skills while continuing to embrace his role as a defensive specialist. ``One of my goals is hopefully to be Defensive Player of the Year one day in my career,'' he said. ``In order to do that, you've got to take on the best. That's what you've got to do. I've got to continue to work on my game, you've got to try to watch as much tape (as possible) to kind of know those guys, see what they're doing. Because guys develop, guys get better. Kevin Durant's not going to be the same player next year, so I've got to try to be a better player as well.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Federer strolls into Estoril quarters
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Roger Federer was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the clay-court Estoril Open, a French Open tune-up. The top-seeded/world No. 1 superstar Federer cruised past G
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are not many people who transcend a sport without actually playing it, but Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell did just that. As I am sure you all aware of, Harwell died at the age of 92 on Tuesday, a year afte
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Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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